Painting WavesDrawing Waves

Waves break on an action line, action lines are adjacent and cross the force lines of wave movement.

The four steps of a wave. The face, the fall, the explosion and the after ripples.

Lines of force go in the direction of the wave movement.
In this case the force lines are moving around the reef and rocks.

1, Water Diamonds are all over the water made by the wind. They are rounded at the bottom and pointed at the top. The end points are located on a concentric ring located around you. These water diamonds are areas where you are looking directly into the depths of the water. They are actually small waves and you see only the section facing you with the right angle of incidence.

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2, Sketch the surface grid in first, start with the flow movement lines showing the direction of the waves. Second the action lines. Any one of the action lines can be the leading edge of a wave. Select your waves positions and erase all the unnecessary lines before painting in water colors.

3, Opposite to land, water is usually darker in front of the object instead of darker behind it. Clouds can go either way depending on the clouds and suns position.

The fan brush can do a lot more than just blend and make grass strokes.